Chinese Festival
When Dragons Dance: A Guide To Chinese Festival
China is the land of many wonders. Chinese food is extremely popular in many parts of the globe. Though not much famed or spread as the culinary delights from the country, yet every Chinese festival has a uniqueness of its own. The ever expanding Diaspora of the country nevertheless ensures that every Chinese festival is celebrated outside as with same pomp and splendor as it is in China.
Chinese people celebrate many famed festivals; some of them date back to centuries-old traditions. People in the Chinese villages celebrate most of the festivals in the traditional fashion, with the food, festivities, and rituals as were practiced by their ancestors.
Chinese New Year / Spring Festival (春节)
Chun Jie, or Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival), falls on the first day of the first lunar month, when winter is ending and making way for spring.
The Spring Festival has a history stretching back more than 2,000 years and the customs associated with it have undergone many changes in that time. It began in the period just before the Qin dynasty, when people celebrated the end of agricultural matters, as a thank you to the gods for their generosity throughout the year. Records go back as far as they Western Zhou dynasty (1046-771 BC), thanking the gods for a good year and praying for another one. As different states used different calendars, there was no set date for these celebrations, though the period when agriculture slowed down in winter was generally the time everyone marked the day.
Seven Sister Festival (七夕节)
As its name implies, this festival is held on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, and folklore says this is the day the Weaving Girl and the Herd Boy reunite.
The Herd Boy, Niu Lang, was orphaned and living with his brother and sister-in-law. His sister-in-law was cruel to him and one day he was out in the fields with his old cow who said the next day was the seventh day of the seventh month, the day when the seven daughters of Yuhuang Dadi come to earth to bathe. The youngest, Zhi Nü, was the cleverest of them and all Niu Lang had to do was to hide her clothes and she would be his wife. The Herd Boy did this; he hid in the reedbed as seven faeries floated from heaven to bathe, when Niu Lang sprang up and hid the youngest girl’s clothes. Startled, six of them flew back, leaving the youngest in the river. He promised she could have her clothes back on condition she marry him. She agreed, they were happy and had a son and a daughter. But the Weaving Girl was forced back by the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens. The Herd Boy and the children tried to get her back but, with a wave of her hairpin, the Queen Mother created a wide river, separating the two lovers, who could do nothing but weep.